U.S. stocks opened lower on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.24% at 51,385.69, the Nasdaq declining 0.63% to 26,766.06 and the S&P 500 falling 0.38% to 7,676.54. Communication-services shares rose 0.8%, while information-technology stocks fell 1%. Initial jobless claims decreased by 1,000 to 197,000 in the second week of September, below the 201,000 market estimate. Apimeds Pharmaceuticals US shares surged 245% after its subsidiary MindWave agreed to deploy MindChain infrastructure as the foundation of AQUAEChain. Surrozen and Profusa also advanced, while Beneficient, Artelo Biosciences and VisionSys AI declined. Oil rose to $93.59, gold and silver fell, and copper edged higher. European markets were mixed, while most Asian benchmarks closed lower. The U.S. current-account deficit widened to $246 billion in the second quarter, and August building permits fell 2.1% to 1.403 million units.